Private
Private Secretary
End
Secretary 7
136
State
MEK HKGD 34011
RECEIVED 24
SECRET
13
INDEX
Ла
Y NO. 51
6 MAR 1981
PİCER
PA
REGISTRY Action Taken
HONG KONG: NEW NATIONALITY LEGISLATION
1.
PCM 3013
By that
The Governor of Hong Kong saw Mr Whitelaw on 11 March. time Mr Whitelaw had received Lord Carrington's minute pressing Hong Kong's case.
2.
135)
Mr Whitelaw emphasised that he was keen to help Hong Kong as far as possible within the political and other constraints on the Home Office. He agreed that officials should meet to try to work out amendments which would reconcile Hong Kong's requirements with HMG's policy on immigration. He agreed on the spot to the proposal that citizens of the British Dependent Territories should have the right to register as British Citizens after 5 years' residence in this country, and to a provision that Crown Service by employees of Dependent Territory Governments should count towards the residence qualification for naturalisation. He had much more difficulty with the proposal for a discretionary provision allowing the Home Secretary to naturalise in special circumstances persons who had given substantial service to the Crown in Dependent Territories. The problem was to keep the numbers involved as limited as possible and not to encourage early applications for naturalisation. theless, he accepted that Hong Kong needed something on the lines proposed although he could make no promises about the form of any amendment.
3.
Mr Whitelaw fully accepted the need for agreement in principle on as many amendments as possible to have been reached before Lord Carrington's visit to Hong Kong at the end of this month, in order to allow the Secretary of State to be as reassuring as possible. The tactics for the placing of amendments in Committee or elsewhere would require further discussion.
4. A meeting of officials has been arranged for 11 am on Friday morning (13 March) which the Governor will also attend. This will clearly involve hard bargaining on the special provision for people who have given 'substantial service'. The Governor made clear at the meeting that without a satisfactory amendment on this point his chances of holding back further protests and maintaining morale in the Civil Service were slim.
ند
11 March 1981
cc PS/Mr Blaker
PS/Mr Luce Sir E Youde Mr Donald
Mr Adams
Mr Jones, NTD
R D Clift
Hong Kong and General Department
SECRET